ALL OUT – Abraham

If we are to be ALL OUT, we must learn from others who went ALL OUT for God.

One of the things we need to recognize is that these people didn’t think they were capable of doing amazing things. They were just like you and me. They never realized their God capacity until He got their attention, and:

He gave them their instructions

He filled them with vision to keep them going forward

He taught them and trained them as they walked it out

He believed IN THEM

You probably have heard people say, “God equips the called,” and that is the truth. He isn’t looking for people who are perfect. He is looking for people who are willing, so He can perfect them as they grow in relationship with Him.

Abraham:

Abraham is known as the Father of our faith. What a title to have! He certainly didn’t start out that way. You can read the entire story in Genesis 12, but I am going to brief you on it to get to the point of the day.

Abram was called out by God to leave that which was familiar to him, and leave his family, and go to an undisclosed place God had prepared for him. He obeyed, except for one thing. He brought along his nephew, Lot. He just wasn’t ready yet to completely obey. He decided it would be better with Lot than without him. And he felt it was better for Lot because Abram was still deciding things concerning his family within himself, not leaving it completely up to God. To his credit, Abram did move forward as he walked out of the familiar into the unknown. He started out by having to have faith in God’s promise to give him a land, which was Canaan.

Genesis 12:7 NKJV
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

Abram saw the land, heard God’s promise and he worshipped Him. He offered something back to God at the thought of the goodness of the Lord in giving His people such a wonderful land. He didn’t argue about it. He didn’t discuss it with God. He just believed it would be theirs, because the Lord said so.

Oh how we need to trust Him like this if we are to go ALL OUT this year! Even though his faith was great toward God’s promise, it waivered when it came to his family. There was a famine in the land, and he went to Egypt to survive the famine. So this man of faith didn’t show a lot of faith in this instance.

Genesis 12:11-13 NKJV
11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.
12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you."

You see, Abram was growing into becoming Abraham, the father of many nations and the father of our faith. He just wasn’t there yet. He had a trust problem when it came to family. He wanted to bend the rules. He wanted to make his own rules. He wanted to apply the world’s way of handling an uncomfortable situation to bring about an easier solution.

You see, being ALL OUT means we are going to step out of our comfort zone and trust God. It also means that situations will arise that will test our trust level in different areas of our heart.

There are some aspects of our relationship where it seems easy to trust God, but when it comes to trusting God with areas that we think we know better, it is more of a challenge. We will all be tested. Just because it may seem easier to work things out in your mind and do things your way, it doesn’t make it pleasing to God. We are fasting and praying to move beyond where we can trust God right now into fully trusting Him in every situation, so that we don’t hesitate when He asks us to be ALL OUT.

As I said, Abram was on his way. He was in a learning process, and that gives us so much hope! We, too, are called to greatness, but we will discover the greatness of God as we step out in faith and trust Him with more every step along the way.

It would be ridiculous to think that we would not have these challenges as well. There will be obstacles. There will be challenges. There will be temptations to give up, but we must never stop. We can go forward one step at a time, no matter what happens. God will meet us where we are, to help us.

He showed up to Abram and changed his name to Abraham. To reinforce the vision He showed him the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea as representatives of the inheritance that would be his. God has a way of bringing you ALL IN to His way of thinking so that you can go ALL OUT with His plans and purposes.

This is the journey we are taking. Abraham came to the place where he offered to God the very thing he had not been willing to give. He went ALL OUT to place his promised seed (his son Isaac) on the altar. Abraham was strengthened in the journey and he came to know God better. He knew God had given him all that he had, even his family. And when Abraham offered the promised seed on the altar of sacrifice, he did it with assurance that God would raise Isaac up because he was SO CONVINCED of God’s promise to him (and to us) that he wasn’t hung up on the hard “ask.” He was too busy looking through God’s lenses to see the bigger picture.

This is our challenge too. We must know what God has promised, and we must be willing to offer Him anything He asks of us, because the big picture belongs to Him. Of course, God rescued Isaac at the same moment He rescued Abraham from the moment of death. He brought all the promises to life that would set things in order for all of us.

He went ALL OUT; so must we. I don’t know what all God has for us to offer Him this year. I know that it will affect generation to generation. I do know that He has brought us to such a time as this for His purposes to be realized on the earth. I do know He has called us to be His Church, His Bride who will make mistakes, but will learn through them and be stronger as we go. I do know that He is going to deal with each one of us and change what we think is important into what He thinks is more important. I also know that we will experience more glorious times in the Lord together as we see His hand moving in our midst.

Seven hundred promises in the Word of God are waiting for you to experience. And there are even more on a personal level. We have to be focused on being ALL OUT, on holding nothing back from Him, to experience the faith that He wants to instill inside of us. Then it won’t make a difference what obstacles are before us, because our God is bigger than any obstacle and He LIVES in us.

Warning: This is a serious prayer. Take it to heart.

PRAYER:

Dear Father,

Wow! I am shaking at the bigness of Your thoughts. To think that I am worth investing in and that You have assigned great things to do through me that will affect generation to generation! It is way beyond me, but I choose You right now.

God, get my attention.

Give me Your instructions.

Fill me with Your vision to keep me going forward.

Teach me and train me as I walk it out.

Thank You that You believe IN ME.

I choose to trust You like I never have before. I give You permission to open my eyes to see where I have compromised in my thinking and my actions. Please change my thoughts to be Your thoughts and my ways to be Your ways. I want to see beyond myself and into the many lives that will be changed and touched by Your love. Give me the wisdom that I need to accomplish Your will. Increase my faith and enlarge my territory that I may be a blessing. Burn out the dross of my heart, and set me on fire by Your Spirit. In Jesus’ name, I pray.

Amen.

Set a Fire – Bethel

Need You More – Will Reagan - United Pursuit

Do it Again – Elevation Worship

DAILY APPLICATION:

What was your “ah-ha” moment?

How can you apply this in your relationship with God, and what changes will you have to make?

How can this help you with your family?

How can this help you with others in your daily life?

Think BIG: By applying these truths, how are you expecting this to impact your family, others I your everyday life, your city, and the world?